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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26033314">Any Other Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobalamincosel/pseuds/cobalamincosel'>cobalamincosel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, Past Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Mark/Ten, Ten POV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:48:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26033314</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cobalamincosel/pseuds/cobalamincosel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oh," Ten says, the relief coursing through him in record-time, his body relaxing. "Wait, you're telling me that you've been avoiding me and hurting my feelings for the last couple of weeks because you like Johnny?" Ten asks, the revelation finally sinking in. </p><p>"Hyung, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Mark says, his voice small. "I just—I mean, everyone knows you and Johnny-hyung used to—you know..."</p><p>"What? Fuck? Date? Be in love?" Ten fills in the blanks, amused.</p><p>"All of the above," Mark mumbles.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>575</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Any Other Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've been in love with seeing Mark and Ten's friendships lately since they're doing SuperM promos again, and it's so obvious that Mark is Ten's baby. </p><p>I really loved writing this on Twitter, and exploring the themes of love in its many-layered forms, in an unconventional not-quite love triangle. </p><p>This is the ao3 version, now free of typos (i hope) and with a few tiny edits. </p><p>Thank you to everyone who read this in its <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnyseo_paws/status/1295771297905963008?s=20">original form on Twitter.</a></p><p>Thank you to Andy for the rec of Ladies by Fiona Apple, from which I take this title.</p><p>Here's to platonic and romantic soulmates, past loves and future loves and the ones that sustain us in the present.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>No love is like any other love</em>
  <br/>
  <em>So, it would be insane to make a comparison with you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-Ladies, Fiona Apple</em>
</p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p>When they’re on the set for the ‘100’ MV, winter is still upon them.</p><p>The air outside the building is frigid, but the air inside the box sets are warm and stifling. Once again, there are cameras everywhere, every opportunity together fodder for the fans.</p><p>Ten doesn’t pick up on anything being wrong until later when filming has wrapped for the day and they’re all wiping their makeup off with oil cleansers and getting ready to head out to a late dinner.</p><p>“Markie, baby,” Ten says, catching up to Mark who’s three steps from the van.</p><p>He doesn’t expect Mark to flinch, or pull away from him, especially since Mark hadn’t seemed to mind on set, but that’s what happens when he reaches for Mark’s arm.</p><p>“Hey, what was that?” Ten asks, leaning in, frowning. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>Mark looks up sharply at that.</p><p>“Nothing’s wrong, hyung,” Mark says, but Mark’s always been a shitty liar when he’s not acting in front of cameras, and Ten’s intuition has a 99.99% success rate when it comes to these things.</p><p>Ten narrows his eyes as they pile into the back of the van. Mark chooses a solo seat.</p><p>It’s off, but everyone has off days.</p><p>Maybe this is Mark’s, and considering that Mark had spent his teenage angst days having to essentially be the perfect pro-debuter, Ten figures he’ll let Mark’s delayed second puberty play out for a bit. He lets it slide, and relaxes in his seat.</p><p>Except that it keeps happening.</p><p>They’ll be chummy on set, while Mark will avoid him off it, and the more it happens, the more unsettled Ten feels.</p><p>Ten is not stupid. He knows almost immediately when someone has a problem with him, and he knows that most people in their group are notoriously Not Great At Confrontation, but Ten is. He hates when things are drawn out needlessly, hates when people beat around the bush, and <em>especially</em> hates when people walk on eggshells around him.</p><p>So the next time Ten sees Taeyong give Mark an affectionate tug on his ear while they wait backstage for their next interview, Ten decides that he is not going to let Mark avoid him anymore without at least understanding what it is Ten did wrong to upset him.</p><p>It eats at Ten even more because he’d thought that they’d gotten so much closer over the course of the SuperM tour, so he doesn’t understand why the winter winds have resulted in Mark giving him the cold shoulder. The change is so sudden and stark that it hurts Ten’s feelings.</p><p>There’s also the pressing matter of the fact that they’re on limited time, since not only are they gearing up for a full album comeback for SuperM, both WayV and 127 set for full albums of their own. This entire year is insane, and it’s only just January. He needs to fix this.</p><p>Ten manages to catch Mark alone, finally, at the tail-end of a photoshoot they do for Jalouse. The last of Mark’s purple has faded into its blond base, a testament to how long it’s been since Mark’s been weird around him.</p><p>“Markie,” Ten says as Mark steps out of the bathroom, his hair a little wet from where he’d washed his face.</p><p>“Oh, hyung, where’s the rest?” Mark asks nervously.</p><p>“Why are you avoiding me?” Ten asks, biting the bullet.</p><p>Mark looks like he’s going to bolt, so Ten holds his hands out, like Mark’s a fawn.</p><p>“I don’t want a fight, I’m not gonna force an answer out of you if you really don’t want to say,” Ten says. “But I just want to know if I did anything or said anything that offended you or hurt you or made you mad. Did I tell a joke that went too far?”</p><p>Mark deflates a little, and pushes his hair out of his face.</p><p>“Hyung, I swear, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not you—“</p><p>“Oh my God, you are not going to ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ this right now!” Ten wails, throwing himself onto the couch. “Please tell me what it is.”</p><p>Mark sighs, and then flops down on the couch next to him.</p><p>“Before I tell you, can you promise to like, not hate me so much?” Mark asks, and Ten frowns. Hate him? As if it was even remotely possible to hate Mark Lee?</p><p>“Markie, literally nothing you do will make me hate you.”</p><p>“You say that now but you haven’t even heard it yet,” Mark says sullenly. He folds in on himself, like he’s protecting his body, and it breaks Ten’s heart that Mark thinks Ten is capable of doing anything but adore him.</p><p>“Fine,” Ten says, sighing and taking Mark’s hand. “Promise.”</p><p>"I've been weird for a lot of reasons but, well," Mark starts, taking a big, big inhale and huffing it out through his lips like he's yoga breathing. "I think I like Johnny."</p><p>Oh.</p><p>
  <em>Oh.</em>
</p><p>"Oh," Ten says, the relief coursing through him in record-time, his body relaxing. "Wait, you're telling me that you've been avoiding me and hurting my feelings for the last couple of weeks because you like Johnny?" Ten asks, the revelation finally sinking in.</p><p>Mark flinches, and then hits Ten with his stupid 'please spare coochie' puppy-dog eyes, and Ten is a goner, absolutely useless and helpless in the face of it.</p><p>"Hyung, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Mark says, his voice small. "I just—I mean, everyone knows you and Johnny-hyung used to—you know..."</p><p>"What? Fuck? Date? Be in love?" Ten fills in the blanks, amused.</p><p>"All of the above," Mark mumbles. "I'm so sorry. I really shouldn't be feeling this was about Johnny-hyung, and I've been trying to get over him but the more I try, the more I seem to like him, and I just keep feeling like I'm disrespecting you, and I feel slimy about it but I'll do my best to get over him, I swear."</p><p>Ten tsks and crawls over to Mark, draping himself all over him like an octopus.</p><p>"Markie, my baby," Ten says, showering Mark his with brand of aggressive love. "What does you having feelings for Johnny have to do with me? We broke up, remember?"</p><p>Mark sputters a bit, and looks at Ten incredulously. "How are you being so calm about this?"</p><p>Ten sighs. Mark's never been in a relationship before, so he sort of gets it.</p><p>"Johnny and I used to be together, yes," Ten says. "But we aren't anymore, we haven't been for years now. He's my best friend. He always has been. As are you, in case you forgot," Ten says, tapping on Mark's temple gently. "I'm not gonna be weird about you liking him on the basis of that. In fact, I'm the best person to talk to, obviously. I'll totally get where you're coming from."</p><p>Mark looks so forlorn, it’s honestly making Ten’s heart crack a little.</p><p>“I guess...” Mark says. “Dude, I dunno. It just. Feels like I’m crossing a line here. You know? And like, yo, it’s stupid to think about him anyway since he doesn’t even see me like that.”</p><p>Oh no. Oh boy. There it is, the magic words that get Ten hyped more than anything except maybe for stage performances: a challenge.</p><p>Ten can see it, honestly, Mark and Johnny. They'd be a good fit—different from how he and Johnny used to be, sure, but good. "How can you be sure?"</p><p>Mark's laugh is short and hollow. "You see how people see us," Mark says, side-eyeing him. "Pretty sure that's how he sees me, too."</p><p>Ten hums, and is about to throw in his two cents when Mark says, "Besides, you're still in love with him, aren't you?"</p><p>Ten pauses.</p><p>"Okay, let me get this outta the way," Ten says, enunciating slowly so that Mark doesn't miss a single word. "Yeah, I'm in love with him, and I don't think that's ever gonna change, but that doesn't mean we want to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with each other anymore."</p><p>Mark's face kind of turns into that meme Ten had seen on Twitter of the lady with the math equations all over her face.</p><p>"How..." Mark says. "Okay you guys never really played by the rules but like, how does that even work though?"</p><p>Ten presses a finger to Mark’s lips to shush him. "There's a lot you've gotta learn about love and relationships, baby, and you're lucky I'm here to teach you," Ten says, immensely pleased and ruffling Mark's hair now. "But first, we're gonna go get you your man."</p><p>Mark pulls away, hands up in defense. "Hold on, what, no???"</p><p>"Why not?" Ten asks, just as they hear Taeyong and Baekhyun step back into the dressing room with plastic bags full of what appears to be Gong-cha.</p><p>"There will be no 'getting my man' because said man doesn't see me that way!" Mark whispers his reply.</p><p>It's clear they can't continue this conversation, not here, not when Mark's this spooked, and Ten's pretty sure that he isn't ready to talk about this to the rest of the hyungs, either, so Ten drops it, presses a kiss to Mark's forehead, and slinks off to get his drink instead.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>It's unfortunate that things take a turn after SuperM preparations because the world has to grapple with a situation that catches everyone flat-footed. Their entire calendar for the year gets obliterated in a matter of weeks, and the company has to scramble for Plans B and C.</p><p>Their comebacks get reshuffled, a maddeningly tight schedule that has 127, Dream and WayV in the recording studios and the practice rooms for days on end, trying to turn the albums out and the performances mastered and the music videos filmed and post-processed and rendered.</p><p>In an insane flurry of months, Ten finds himself watching their entire group stay in the charts and on people's tongues for weeks on end. Kick It then Ridin' then Punch then Turn Back Time is the set plan. Days bleed into each other. They get a cat, and a dog, and a cat.</p><p>Ten's brilliant plan, Operation Johnmark, he'd called it in his head (and in his texts to Mark), has been completely derailed, but Ten thinks that it's no matter. He can still work remotely. Mark only <em>thinks</em> he isn't charming. It doesn't mean that he actually isn't.</p><p>In between schedules, Ten checks up on Mark and tries to fish around for information from Johnny. Ten knows that he can be obvious about his plans most times, but he’s patient. Knows how to play the long game. Knows how to sniff things out like interest while faking nonchalance.</p><p>Ten and Johnny message each other for a while, finding a common free time impossible as they gear up for Punch immediately after Kick It wraps up, but they make it work, by Ten’s sheer force of will, and manage to steal three hours to slink off to a coffee shop together.</p><p>Tucked into a corner on the quiet second floor away from prying eyes, Ten sips at his dirty chai while Johnny stirs his iced Americano with a metal straw. He needs a way to work in the topic of relationships, just to see if Johnny’s interested in <em>anyone </em>at the moment, so he fibs, pretends he’s maybe got an eye on someone from Inkigayo.</p><p>“Just so tiring,” Ten sighs, averting his gaze. “He’s so cute but it’ll never work, you know?”</p><p>“I mean, you know better than to be interested in a non-idol,” Johnny says. “And I’m not just saying this as your ex.”</p><p>“I know,” Ten says, shrugging. “Maybe I just miss flirting.”</p><p>“Tennie, you flirt with half the people you live with,” Johnny laughs. “As well as half of my subunit when we’re together. I’ve never seen Jaehyun get so flustered.”</p><p>“Oh please, Jae’s used to it,” Ten says, throwing his head back. “And Jae loves me, excuse you.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Johnny says, setting his drink down.</p><p>“What about you?” Ten asks, going in for the kill. Johnny’s always been a tough nut to crack, so this is a gamble, but he’s not gonna get any feel for it unless he asks. “Anyone you’ve been eyeing?”</p><p>Johnny shrugs. “Nah.”</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>“Nah? Like no one at all has caught your eye?” Ten asks. “Not even within the company?”</p><p>“Why do you sound so shocked?” Johnny laughs. “It’s not like you like anyone in the company, either.”</p><p>Ten fakes his being affronted, holds a hand to his chest, flutters his eyelashes.</p><p>“Oh Johnny,” Ten gasps softly, dramatically. “You’re not still hung up on <em>me</em>, are you? I’m flattered, I swear, but you need to move on—“</p><p>Johnny throws a balled-up napkin at Ten, laughing. “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you.”</p><p>Ten’s face crinkles, his chest light. “Mmm, maybe, partly, but I’d still call you pathetic for it,” he replies.</p><p>Johnny stretches, and then pulls his cap off, his hair flopping on his forehead before pushing it back and holding it in place with the cap again.</p><p>“I dunno, Tennie,” Johnny says. “It’s not like I even have time to be interested in anyone right now, and no one seems to be interested, either, so what’s the point, you know?”</p><p>“<em>No one?</em>“ Ten asks. “You flashed tits onstage and you think <em>no one</em> is interested in you?”</p><p>Johnny laughs.</p><p>“I flashed tits and got a tattoo and the only one who seems to be paying much attention is Mark,” Johnny says, and Ten freezes on the spot for a solid two seconds before reminding himself to be chill about this. So he’s noticed Mark noticing him. Curious.</p><p>“Oh?” Ten says, in lieu of holding back the real question he wants to ask, which is how Johnny feels about that, but just waves it off.</p><p>“You know Mark,” Johnny says. “He’s excited about most things. But that doesn’t mean he’s interested in <em>me.</em>”</p><p>Fuck it. Ten breaks.</p><p>“Would that be so far-fetched?” Ten asks gently but hiding it behind his usual teasing. Johnny’s never minded Ten pushing boundaries when it came to asking him things—it’s how they ended up dating in the first place, but for Mark’s sake, he needs to be careful.</p><p>“The last time I remember him being interested in anyone was when he wouldn’t shut up about Daniel,” Johnny snorts. It’s so unbecoming, Ten thinks. Johnny’s lucky he’s so handsome because half the time he reminds Ten that he’s still very much a Gross Boy. “I don’t fit his type.”</p><p>Ten has to work extra hard to not roll his eyes at that. Okay, so Johnny’s paying attention. That’s something. Ten can work with that.</p><p>“Well,” Ten says, finishing the last of his drink. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a cute couple.”</p><p>Johnny just kicks him under the table for it. “Mark doesn’t like me that way,” Johnny says sternly. “But thanks for the vote of confidence anyway.”</p><p>Ten steers the conversation away from relationships now that he’s gotten the morsel of information he needed, and planted the seed for Johnny to ruminate, as well.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:45 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;omfg baby’s first IG post!!!!!!!</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>[Markie: 8:46 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Dude hahaha</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Idkw hhy im so nervous about it</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Idk* why*</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:46 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;cos ur technologically inept n run the risk of doing something like accidentally starting an ig live without meaning to</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>[Markie: 8:47pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Ugh</em>
</p><p>Mark finally gets his Instagram account—the last to do so in SuperM and the sixth to do so in 127—and Ten is over the moon, because having an IG account means that Ten can get his operation back in order.</p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:49pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;U know what this means right</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Mark</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;It means thirst traps</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>[Mark 8:49 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;?????????????? Hahaha what dudeeee</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten can practically hear Mark’s nervous laughter, and it frustrates him to no end because Mark is <em>sexy </em>but he’s too hard-headed to listen to Ten when he tells him so.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:50 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Johnny followed u th moment ur post went up!! Meanwhile i had to wait. That bitch</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Anyway</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Listen</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 8:50 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;oh my god how do i already have 20k followers it’s been like 5 mins???????</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:50 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Y do u never listen to me when i tell u how popular u are</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Also follow me back wtf</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Also pay attention i am talking to u about getting ur man!!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark 8:51 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Yo there is no “getting my man” he’s not interested in me!! 😔😔</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten sits up on the couch in frustration so suddenly, Louis startles and digs his <em>claws </em>into Ten’s thigh in retaliation.</p><p>“That hurt,” Ten mutters to his cat. “But I’ll forgive you for it.”</p><p>Ten's starting to realize that maybe both his best friends are actually idiots, but it's no matter.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:53 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;have u seen henny's posts??</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;u need to get on his level</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark 8:54 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;dude i don't have a pet and i am not gonna pose shirtless on my ig hahaha</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten groans.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me 9:00 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Y not??</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Uv seen johnny’s stupid posts</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Or do i need t remind u?</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:02 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;HYUNG</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;GOD</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:02 pm] </strong>
</p><p>&gt;😈😈</p><p>
  <em>&gt;T h i r s t</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;T r a p s</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:05 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;i dont even know how to take those okay I can barely take decent selcas</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten's joined by Yangyang who takes Louis from his lap and proceeds to use Louis as a pillow. It's a wonder he's being so compliant now.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:05pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;untrue. send me a selca rn!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:08 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;this is my best attempt ok dont make fun of me</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Ten nearly coos at his phone. Okay, so Mark will need work on thirst-trapping, fine, but Mark's just so handsome and so fucking cute that he wouldn't be able to make fun of Mark even if he put in the effort.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:09pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;U R SO CUTE!!!!!!! OH MY GOD</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;MARKIEEEEEEEEEEEE</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 09:11 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;thanks hyung</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;i doubt cute will get me anywhere but i guess if i dont have sexy going for me then at least i have that</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten honestly wants to rip his hair out but it's just gotten bleached so he can't actually do that.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:12 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;i s2g say that 1 MORE TIME</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He does a frantic search through his gallery, which he organizes by era, and finds the photo he's looking for.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:15 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;do u see urself!!! look at us!! we're both so sexy here!!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;ur cheekbones r from god markie</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;also like yes loom over me some more 😛</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:16 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;hahaha</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;i mean ill be honest im grateful for the ego boost</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:16 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;ur impossible</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;ANYWAY</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;im taking ur pics next chance i get&gt;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>im gonna make sure u keep johnny awake at night commiserating the fact that he hasnt tapped that bubble butt yet</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Why is your face like that?” Yangyang asks, pulling Ten’s focus from his phone.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Ten lifts an eyebrow.</p><p>“Your face,” Yangyang says. “It’s the one you make when you’re planning to cause problems on purpose.”</p><p>“You would know,” Ten laughs.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>Ten tries to work it in slowly, planting the seeds to nudge both Johnny and Mark along toward each other. When Ten asks Johnny what his plan for the next JCC is, after the pair of them finish commiserating that Ten still can’t feature in them, Ten decides to suggest it.</p><p>“You could like make a movie? A short film!” Ten says when they’re on video call, sitting on the floor after having done yoga. Johnny’s cooling down from his own workout at the gym, and Ten allows himself a few moments to appreciate the sweat that drops down from his forehead to his clavicle.</p><p>Just because he's trying to get his ex with his best friend doesn't mean Ten isn't allowed to appreciate <em>just exactly </em>how hot Johnny is, especially lately. Besides, Johnny takes pride in how hard he works for it.</p><p>"God, lower your camera a little for me, baby," Ten jokes.</p><p>Johnny brings his camera back up to his face to show Ten his monumental eye-roll. Jesus, he has to keep putting up with this treatment from both Johnny and Mark. He's starting to forget why he's working so hard to get them together.</p><p>"Actually, the short film idea is cool," Johnny says finally.</p><p>Step 1, check.</p><p>"You should do it with Mark!" Ten says. It's not subtle in the slightest, but he presses on. "He'll be laughing half the time but I think it'd be cool. You're both equally ridiculous."</p><p>Johnny smiles a little to himself and appears to give it some consideration. "An actual good idea, wow," he says, shocked.</p><p>"I'm going to pretend you're not being an <em>asshole </em>right now and will just wait for you to say, 'Thank you, Tennie, you're brilliant. I love you.'"</p><p>Johnny shakes his head, and Ten flips him the bird sweetly. "Say it, Suh."</p><p>"Thank you, Tennie," Johnny intones. "You're brilliant. I love you."</p><p>"There you go," Ten says, pleased with himself.</p><p>"I'll ask him later if he's into it," Johnny says. "But for now I gotta go shower. Bye, Ten."</p><p>"Take me with you!" Ten says.</p><p>
  <em>"Bye, Ten." </em>
</p><p>Ten just laughs before Johnny ends the call.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>When Ten sees the tweet go up on his feed, he chokes on the water he’d been chugging and ends up coughing it up while he bends over and braces his hand on the mirror. He’s in the practice room and has half a mind leave it in order to either murder Johnny or high-five him.</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Inside a room with a bed and sofa.” God. Innocuous enough, sure, but knowing him, Ten’s pretty sure Johnny had laughed to himself knowing how low-key suggestive it sounds. Mark, no doubt, will have laughed along twice as hard. These two, honestly.</p><p>The responses, of course, range from hilarious to downright baffling, but that's what Johnny deserves for putting the idea out like this.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 8:59 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;icb the man of ur dreams decided to tweet that and u let him</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:02 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;omg it was so funny</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;also stop calling him that</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:04 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;mhmmmm sure</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;how go things on the operation front, my boy</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:06 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;haha! idk what youre talking about :)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten doesn't even bother to reply to that, refusing to let Mark go on with his self-denial and self-deprecation any more than necessary. Mark gets the hint, for once, because after ten minutes of Ten's silence, he finally follows up.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:16 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;ok fine I've just been trying to spend more time with him but it's so</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;ughhhhhhhhh</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;i get so stupid around him hyung!! i always have but having a crush on him is WORSE</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:17 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;just be yourself markie, ur doing great 😘😘😘</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;when are we gonna meet up again? im free on tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Lets go out. just us!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:29 am] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Fuck sorry we had a run through practice! anyway</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Thursday what time?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 9:50 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;this is so stupid i could literally just go to ur practice room but im stuck in mine</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;U good with 5?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 9:51 am]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;good w that!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;see you hyung</em>
</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>“You keep staring off into space,” Ten says, cutting a slice of the brick-oven pizza neatly and pulling it onto his plate. “Share with the class?”</p><p>Mark startles and shakes himself, before Ten sees the blush settle over the apples of his cheeks. “Sorry, sorry.”</p><p>“What’s on your mind?” Ten asks before taking a bite. “Or rather, <em>who’s</em> on your mind?”</p><p>The blush only deepens further, and Ten ends up grinning from ear to ear.</p><p>“It’s okay if you wanna talk about him, you know,” Ten adds, raising his eyebrow.</p><p>Mark looks down at his plate. “I—yeah, you told me that but it still feels kind of, I dunno,” Mark says, starting on his own slice. “There’s stuff I wanna ask but it’s weird and embarrassing and one hundred percent crosses like, seven different lines.”</p><p>“My fucking group burst into the bathroom to sing me happy birthday while I was on the toilet, Markie,” Ten says, covering his mouth while he chews. “Weird and embarrassing and crossing seven different lines is part of my daily life now. Try me.”</p><p>Mark’s always been so cutely shy about this stuff, especially when he was an overworked teen grappling with his newfound sexuality in a world where they had no choice but to mold themselves to fit in. They’d been there for each other as trainees, all of them.</p><p>Ten needs Mark to know that that still holds true today.</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Mark says eventually. “So we’ve been hanging out more and like, that’s stuff when we’re alone. We’ve been making music together—“</p><p>“Oh, is that what kids call it these days?” Ten teases, earning him a “hyuung!”</p><p>“Sorry, sorry, I’m kidding, you know that,” Ten says, loving it when Mark gets flustered.</p><p>Mark sighs, and then finally, “Jeeeesus, sometimes I have to like, excuse myself to go to the bathroom or the kitchen to get a glass of water when he gets too close. I think I’ll combust.”</p><p>Ten remembers exactly what that feels like—the heady rush of it, the excitement. It echoes, feels it in his body like a phantom passing through him. Johnny was his first in every regard: first kiss, first boyfriend, first sexual encounter that didn’t involve his own hand.</p><p>And to think that that had been when Johnny had been all of his gangly nineteen-year-old self. He can only imagine what it’s like to be around him now and feel that same pull with the way Johnny carries himself today: stronger, taller, more self-assured.</p><p>Ten tells Mark as much, and it’s like the floodgates open, Mark closing his eyes and pressing the heels of his palms into them to groan out, “God, I know right. He’s so hot it’s like, <em>offensive! </em>It doesn’t help that you’re out here designing his tattoos.<em>”</em></p><p>To which Ten replies, “I honestly don’t know how you’ve survived him working out all the time.”</p><p>Mark goes bug-eyed.</p><p>“Sometimes he works out on <em>our </em>floor when he’s too ‘lazy’ to go to the gym just cos Taeil-hyung has the weights,” Mark whines. “Ten, he works out shirtless. I’ve just woken up for breakfast and he’s in our living room doing push-ups and I’m expected to not pop a boner. What the fuck?”</p><p>Ten laughs at this, because while Johnny’s always been dedicated to making sure he was fit and healthy, the amount of working out he used to do when Ten was hitting that on the regular was significantly less than whatever sort of male posturing he seems to be doing now.</p><p>“Has it crossed your mind that maybe he’s doing it on purpose?” Ten asks, dabbing the corners of his mouth with the red napkin by his plate.</p><p>“What...” Mark replies. “Haha why would he do that?”</p><p>“Why should he stop at thirst trap IG posts when he can show off in person?”</p><p>Ten may not know exactly how Johnny feels about Mark right now, but he certainly knows when Johnny’s showing off, and he’s sure that that’s what’s happening here.</p><p>“Hahaha hyung why would he need to do that?” Mark says, before dropping his fork. “Oh my God...”</p><p>“What?” Ten asks in alarm at the horrified tone Mark takes on.</p><p>“I didn’t even... hyung, what if he likes someone <em>else</em> on my floor?” Mark asks, and then slumps over in his seat so dejectedly that it looks like his vertebrae have just given up on him.</p><p>Ten takes a deep breath, counts to five, and then lets it go.</p><p>“Baby,” Ten starts. “What happened that you think so lowly of yourself?”</p><p>Mark looks up sharply. “What?”</p><p>“What is it that makes you think that you’re not sexy, or worth being fawned over, or shown off to?”</p><p>Mark looks away.</p><p>“I mean,” Mark says. “Nothing happened. It’s just—I’m just me? I’m not built the way Johnny is, I’m not like, <em>beautiful </em>the way you and Taeyong-hyung are, I’m not sexy the way—“</p><p>“Mark Lee,” Ten interjects. “You’re breaking my heart.”</p><p>Mark’s mouth flounders open and close, before he reaches out for his beer and takes a sip.</p><p>“If you’re not gonna listen to the fans, the photographers, the people around us whose jobs rely on hyping us up, then listen to me,” Ten says softly. “You are incredibly talented,” he continues. “I watched you grow up and knew, then, when you were tiny and twelve and took mirror selcas worse than mine, that you were going to take the world by storm. You’re the ace and the darling of SM, and of my heart, baby.”</p><p>Ten sets his fork down. “I look at you and marvel at how much you’ve changed. You got on stage and had the entirety of Madison Square Garden rapping along to <em>your</em> verse. You eat ‘Talk About’ on your own and command every person in the room to tell them, ‘Look at me.’”</p><p>Mark scrunches his face up like the onslaught of Ten’s words are too much for him.</p><p>“You were seventeen when you told the world that you were absolutely, fully capable, and it holds true today. You have a work ethic that most other people would kill to have. You’re sexy because not only do you<em> look </em>sexy, you’re genuine, and honest, and sincere.”</p><p>“So,” Ten finishes. “I need you to shelf the belief that you’re anything less than the absolutely devastating person that you are, because I’m not gonna stand for it anymore.”</p><p>Mark’s eyes, already normally filled with stars, contain a galaxy now as he looks at Ten.</p><p>“Th—Thank you, hyung,” Mark says softly.</p><p>They’ve been close for years, but rarely do they get a chance to dig this deeply. Ten takes a sip of his wine, and smiles at him. “You’re welcome.”</p><p>Mark relaxes after Ten’s tirade, a little more receptive to his teasing. He smiles more, blushes a little less. Ten understands where Mark’s coming from—the insecurity, and the hesitation to open up about someone that Ten knows so intimately, inside and out.</p><p>“Society tells us that there are all these rules about how we’re supposed to conduct ourselves,” Ten says, halfway through his shrimp pasta. “That relationships are supposed to look like this and this and this. You and I can’t play by those rules, Markie.”</p><p>Ten pauses to chew thoughtfully and carries on when he swallows. “It doesn’t make sense. Not everyone has to live with their co-workers day in and day out. Which is not to say that we aren’t friends, that we aren’t close, but most people that fall in love and live together often do it in that sequence, not the other way around, you know?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Mark says quietly. “All of it is just confusing. And kind of seems like a bad idea, altogether. Falling in love with someone in your subunit doesn’t look great.”</p><p>“In love, huh?” Ten asks.</p><p>Mark freezes, and then sighs. “Yeah, I think so.”</p><p>“He’s wonderful, isn’t he?” Ten says. “He looks at you and makes you feel like you can do anything.”</p><p>Mark rests his chin on his hand, picking at his food now.</p><p>“Yeah,” Mark says. “I spend a lot of time writing in his room when Haechannie’s with Taeil-hyung, and it’s... nice. And even if he’ll poke fun at me, he’s different when we’re alone. Quieter, more supportive. He’ll tell me what line works and what doesn’t.”</p><p>Ten smiles. “You know, I was scared shitless every single time I had to appear on Hit The Stage,” Ten says. “He’d stay up and wait for me to get home from practice, and he’d give me a pep-talk before every broadcast. He’d watch every episode. He’d tell me everything I did right, and would only cave and tell me what I could work on after I’d kiss it out of him.”</p><p>Mark takes another bite of his food and washes it down with his beer. “Hyung, there’s something that I can’t really get,” he says, his voice once again hesitating. “Why’d you guys break up? I mean it’s clear you care for each other a lot and still love each other.”</p><p>Ten takes a longer sip of his wine, and thinks about his answer.</p><p>“We were really young when we first fell in love,” Ten says eventually. “It was a risk. We hadn’t even debuted yet when it started, when we were sneaking between practices to kiss in dark empty rooms and everything. It was exciting and fun and just—I felt alive.</p><p>“He made me feel alive. But then reality sank in. Pressure sank in. It’s the best feeling in the world, falling in love with your best friend, Markie, but it’s also the most terrifying thing, especially when you’re just fighting half the time, towards the end.</p><p>“Between debut and work and the interviews and the company, it just got too much. We broke up to save our friendship, which mattered more to us than the trappings of what being in a romantic relationship held for us both at the time.</p><p>“We were at different points in our lives, and even if that was a bitter pill to swallow then, it’s still a pill I’m glad we took when we did. I’m always going to love Johnny. I’m always going to want him in my life. We don’t need to be romantically involved for that to happen.”</p><p>“Why can’t that be enough for me?” Mark asks then. “Why can’t I just be happy with having that? I look at him and I feel that about him but whenever I tell myself to be content with just having him around, there’s something else that makes me want <em>more</em>. That’s what’s scary.”</p><p>“Wanting someone is always scary, Markie,” Ten says. “I feel this way about him <em>now </em>because I know what it’s like to want Johnny and have him and lose him and come to peace with that. And besides, the man he is today isn’t the man he was when we were together.”</p><p>Mark nods, bobbing his head like he’s ruminating his thoughts.</p><p>“Yeah, you’re right,” Mark says. “I’m sorry for being such a downer, Ten. I meant for this to be much lighter than—“ he gesticulates wildly with his hand. “—All of this.”</p><p>“It’s okay, baby, I missed this. And you.”</p><p>They finish their meal and part ways outside the restaurant, but not before Ten convinces Mark to let him take some thotty shots to post on Instagram, and makes him swear to upload something—<em>anything</em>—again tonight, because, “You’re killing me here, Markie, I thought I raised you better than this.”</p><p>Clearly, he has raised Mark well enough because when he gets home and crash-lands his ass on the couch, and pulls his phone out to check his socials and see the notif that Mark’s posted something new, Ten beams with pride. Right there, a shiny, slutty new post.</p><p>
  
</p><p>Ten keys in a comment, sending the “sexy sexy😍” just as he sees <strong>johnnyjsuh</strong> liking the post.</p><p>He’s starting to get antsy, honestly, that Johnny hasn’t actually said anything to Ten yet.</p><p>He wonders if Johnny thinks the way Mark does, that Ten is someone who needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to these things. He wonders if Johnny’s harboring any sort of guilt and that’s why he hasn’t said anything yet about whatever peacocking he’s been doing.</p><p>His thoughts are interrupted by Kun and Xiaojun stepping into the dorm with bags of takeaway, Lucas following behind them with Bella in his arms.</p><p>"Food!" Kun yells, and Hendery sticks his head out from his bedroom before the rest of his body joins him, stepping out.</p><p>It's Sicheng who comes over to pull Ten from the couch by the wrist, even though Ten's still full from his meal with Mark.</p><p>"Just sit with us you lazy brat," Sicheng says fondly.</p><p>"You never used to be this mean to me," Ten says, pocketing his phone and narrowing his eyes.</p><p>“Mmm, you know I do it with love,” Sicheng replies, pulling on Ten’s ear. It makes Ten smile, much wider than he expects. There’s a rush of affection there, and Ten takes that feeling and hides it away to looker closer at when he’s alone. For now, he sits, surrounded by noise.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>Ten’s in the middle of practice when the notification on his phone goes off and tells him that NCT’s doing a VLive. He doesn’t have time to watch it in its entirety but he opens it up anyway, and a wheeze goes through his overworked lungs when he sees the title and what it is.</p><p>The wifi in the practice rooms suck ass but the pixels are enough to tell him that Johnny and Mark are sitting in a tent together. On VLive. With a picnic basket. He has no doubt in his mind at all that this was all Johnny’s idea, and Mark, bless him, is just riding with it.</p><p>
  
</p><p>Honest to God, this is part of why Johnny and Ten worked so well way back when: both agents of chaos, just wildly different in execution.</p><p>He gets called back for another round, everything on crunch time now since the Beyond Live stages are set for the following month.</p><p>It’s only on the ride home back to the dorms that Ten is able to get back to the VLive, the highlights of which he’d seen scrolling through Twitter. He sits in the back with one earbud in, Kun sharing the other, and they’re both laughing, watching the travesty with the legos.</p><p>“Well that’s something,” Kun says, when he watches closely. “They’re either really good at this fanservice thing, or Johnny’s not faking it.”</p><p>Kun would know a thing or three about the fanservice, considering he and Ten have been playing it up for over a year now.</p><p>“You see it, too?” Ten asks, grateful that he doesn’t seem like a crazy person.</p><p>“Listen, we’ve all been training for far too long to read into stuff like this the way the fans do,” Kun says softly. “But I will say that if you told me he wasn’t acting, I wouldn’t be surprised.</p><p>
  
</p><p>Ten hums, and turns his attention back to the screen. Except that Kun’s eyes don’t leave him.</p><p>“What?” Ten asks.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” Kun replies, voice low enough that the others don’t hear.</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“About your ex looking at Mark the way he used to look at you?”</p><p>It isn’t mean, or teasing, or accusatory. He and Kun know each other well enough to know this, and Ten appreciates that Kun’s asking, even if it’s not necessary. It does beg the question though: “Does everyone think I’m still hung up on him?” Ten asks, frowning.</p><p>“That’s not what I meant at all and you know it,” Kun replies. “It’s just that dating for us doesn’t exactly constitute as ‘normal’ in that most people don’t have to work in the same company as their ex and their new flame, and I get that that can be weird or unsettling.”</p><p>Ten thinks on it, on the last couple of months that have passed since Mark had told him how he felt about Johnny, and all the little developments that have happened along the way. He’s actively trying to get Mark and Johnny together, and there isn’t any jealousy, no possessiveness.</p><p>“Johnny’s always been attractive to me, always, even when I’d first met him with his rebonded hair,” Ten laughs softly. “I think that it will feel weird for a while in the way that I’ll know what it’s like to hold his hand or kiss him, but—“ Ten smiles. “More than anything, it’s just nice to know that the two people I love the most get to love each other like that. That’s the best thing you can hope for, I think, for an ex that you don’t hate, isn’t it?”</p><p>Kun tugs him closer with an arm around Ten’s shoulders.</p><p>“You certainly wish better things for your ex than I did for mine,” Kun laughs.</p><p>“Oh my god, what did you do?”</p><p>“Nothing! I just wished that her food was bland forever,” Kun says. “Left me for a chef.”</p><p>“God, the travesty,” Ten replies, pinching Kun’s side. “She’s a fool!”</p><p>Ten locks his phone, deciding to continue watching it later. For now, Kun hands him back his earbud which he tucks safely into the case, and curls in closer to Kun as they turn into the long street that leads to their dorm.</p><p>He’s grateful for all the people he’s surrounded by, people who love him and allow him to be himself completely. People who know to ask the right questions, and leave him be when he needs the space. He wants for nothing, and that’s so much more than other people in the industry get.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>The months pass by in a maddening blur. The world and South Korea grapple with the reality of a pandemic while their company continues to shift gears and find ways for them to promote and interact with fans. It’s a lot, sure, but it’s also exciting.</p><p>They spend so much time in the practice rooms now, schedules for comebacks and The Stage recordings and everything overlapping that Ten finds himself seeing more and more of 127 and Dream than they have all year, their practice rooms essentially all next to each other.</p><p>WayV members like to go in and bother 127 on their respective downtimes; Winwin and Taeil huddling together in a corner playing Kartrider while Yangyang and Haechan record each other doing stupid Tiktok Challenges. Ten will sidle up to Mark and playfight with Doyoung and even if the days feel chaotic, Ten is still grateful. They’ve all spent much too much time apart.</p><p>He and Mark gravitate to each other more often than not, and Johnny and Kun trade notes about the music they’ve been making. It’s all really just lovely.</p><p>Ten had thought things were going well on the Operation Johnmark front, so one day when they all break for lunch and Ten finds Mark alone in the practice room leaning against the mirrors instead of downstairs with the rest of them, Ten worries.</p><p>“Hey, what’re you in here sulking about?”</p><p>Mark lifts his head up, opens his eyes, and exhales. “Hey, Ten. I’m not sulking.”</p><p>“I don’t know why you keep thinking I’ll believe you when you try to lie to me about shit,” Ten says, though not unkindly. “I thought we were past this.”</p><p>Mark covers his face with his hands. “You’re gonna think I’m stupid,” he groans.</p><p>“Well I can’t promise you that I won’t but I will at least hear you out, bro,” Ten says, crouching down to sit next to him.</p><p>“What if—Don’t get mad at me for it,” Mark says. “What if—“</p><p>“What if what?” Ten eggs him on gently.</p><p>“What if Johnny is still in love with you?” Mark asks, not looking Ten’s way.</p><p>Ten freezes.</p><p>“Oh my God,” he says, smacking Mark on the arm, making Mark yelp as Bella does.</p><p>“Ow! What was that for?” Mark says, rubbing his arm.</p><p>“Has anyone ever told you you’re a drama queen?” Ten says, frowning. “Everyone is always on my case for being dramatic but clearly they’re just using me as an easy target if they can’t see how much worse you are.”</p><p>Mark gapes at him like a fish.</p><p>“You’re in here, sulking and avoiding people because you think that my ex that you’re in love with might still be in love with me, and you don’t think that’s being dramatic?” Ten asks in one breath.</p><p>“I—I mean, uh,” Mark flounders.</p><p>“Mark he is not still in love with me. God.”</p><p>“I’m just—hey, listen, I happen to think it’s a valid concern!” Mark says, his eyes big and wide and Ten is <em>not </em>going to fall for it this time.</p><p>“No, you cannot tell me that you’re worrying about this now when he’s done nothing but dote on you for the last couple of months.”</p><p>Mark stays silent. Ten neck is starting to tense from the angle he’s holding to look at him.</p><p>“What’s really going on, Markie?” Ten whispers. “Why are you so determined to not let this happen?”</p><p>Mark has his elbows propped up against his bent knees. He bends his head down.</p><p>“I’m scared, Ten,” Mark whispers. “Of a lot of things. I’m scared that I’m reading the signs wrong, and I’ll overstep the boundaries. I’m scared that if he does feel the same way, that I’ll screw it up somehow. I’ve never been in a relationship before, but he has, and—</p><p>“And I’ve got really big shoes to fill,” Mark says finally, looking Ten in the eye, and there’s shame there at this admission. “I’m with him and think, ‘Maybe this could be it,’ and then I think, ‘Would Ten have laughed at this joke? Would he have added to it?’</p><p>“I don’t like admitting that I’m insecure about the memory of you in his life, for the record, so I’d really appreciate if you didn’t tease me about this particular thing,” Mark finishes softly. “I’m really sorry, hyung. I wish I could just shut it off but it’s hard.”</p><p>Ten feels all fight leave him, and takes Mark’s hand, intertwining their fingers to squeeze tight.</p><p>“I think,” Ten says softly. “I think that you need to be kinder on yourself, and I think you need to trust that Johnny can make decisions on his own about who he chooses to love.”</p><p>They’re sitting together in silence after that, Ten playing with Mark’s fingers, their hands still locked, when the door opens suddenly and Johnny walks in.</p><p>Johnny, who takes one look at their hands together, looks at Mark, then at Ten, and walks out.</p><p>Shit.</p><p>“Uh,” Mark says. “What just happened?”</p><p>Ten knows what just happened. If he wasn’t sure about Johnny liking Mark before this, he’s a hundred percent sure about it now, but Johnny’s not gonna be pissed at Mark—he’s gonna be pissed at Ten, which is fine, except that the last thing Ten wants is for either Johnny or Mark to confess <em>before</em> they’re ready. The problem though is if Ten doesn’t clear this up, Johnny could very well pull away from Mark, thinking that Mark is interested in Ten instead of him.</p><p>"Don't worry," Ten says, his voice raspy. "I'll handle it."</p><p>Mark holds his gaze, and Ten hopes that Mark will actually believe him for once without putting up a fight. He wills it so, in the few seconds it takes before Mark inhales deeply, and says, "Okay, hyung."</p><p>"I'm sure he came here looking for you so you could eat," Ten says, easing his hand from Mark's. "You should go do that."</p><p>"Okay," Mark replies. "I—Yeah, okay. I'll just—go."</p><p>Mark rises, walks over to the door, glances back, and says, "Thank you, Ten," before leaving.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>The thing is this: Ten knows that Johnny is not unreasonable. Not anymore, not the twenty-five-year-old version of him, at least. He was, at nineteen, at twenty, at twenty-one before they’d finally called it quits. But not anymore. Time has mellowed him.</p><p>Which is how Ten knows that Johnny’s reaction back there is one that Johnny surely regrets, and is surely rationalizing in his head right now. Ten texts Johnny to ask him where he is, and even if it takes Johnny ten minutes to reply, Johnny still tells him which empty room he’s in.</p><p>Ten takes the stairs two at a time to find the room Johnny’s occupying, one that’s familiar as it’s one of the few that have a keyboard in them. Ten gazes in through the glass panel, and sees Johnny’s back turned to him, his fingers dancing on the keys, the sound muffled by the door.</p><p>Ten opens the door silently and closes it behind him. Johnny keeps playing the familiar tune, and Ten pieces it together, <em>Lovely</em> drifting out from the keys to Ten.</p><p>The playing slows to a stop, and Ten comes closer.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Johnny says. “You and Mark—I didn’t know.”</p><p>Ten tugs on his ear. “Do you honestly think that I would start seeing Mark in secret and not tell you anything about it?” Ten asks, incredulous but fond.</p><p>Johnny looks up at him, and he looks so much like Mark barely an hour ago that Ten wants to smack both of them.</p><p>“And what was with that reaction, hmm?” Ten asks gently, leaning his hip on the edge of the keyboard and crossing his arms. “What aren’t you telling me?”</p><p>Johnny has the decency to look guilty.</p><p>“I—uh,” he starts. “Well.”</p><p>“Well?” Ten says, making Johnny scoot over on the seat.</p><p>Johnny sighs. “You remember months ago when you made a quip about how Mark and I would make a cute couple?”</p><p>Bingo.</p><p>Ten smiles, and says, “Yes, I remember that. What about it?”</p><p>“Well, even when I took into consideration the very real possibility that you’re capable of Inceptioning me or something,” Johnny starts. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About him. It kept me up at night, and it was like I was seeing him in a new light.”</p><p>Ten just hums softly to indicate that he wants Johnny to keep going.</p><p>“It fucked me up a bit,” Johnny continues. “Not Mark per se but just—changing how I see him has been confusing and sort of overwhelming but like... God, remember how you and I started out, Tennie?”</p><p>Ten does, clear as day. “Mmm, we hit the ground running, you and I. Bonnie and Clyde, all that jazz, baby.”</p><p>Johnny smiles fondly and squeezes the back of Ten’s neck.</p><p>“Yeah,” Johnny says. “What I feel for Mark doesn’t feel like that. It’s... different. Quieter.”</p><p>Ten doesn’t expect the small pang that shoots through him at this, but it does come.</p><p>“I guess these last couple of months I’ve just been trying to test the waters, see if maybe I’m not alone in this,” Johnny says.</p><p>“And what conclusions have you arrived at, darling?” Ten asks.</p><p>He rests his forearm on Johnny’s shoulder, his fingers brushing away Johnny’s bangs from his eyes.</p><p>“Well, I thought that there was something there, but then I saw you with him earlier and I just—I dunno. It’s—I’m not proud of how I reacted.”</p><p>“Were you jealous?” Ten asks.</p><p>Johnny looks away.</p><p>“I don’t have any claim over him, and I certainly don’t have one over you,” Johnny says. “But yeah, at that moment, I was. As if I had any right to be. I’m sorry, Tennie. I’ll apologize to him too, later.”</p><p>“Johnny,” Ten says, enunciating clearly in English. “Nothing is going on with me and Mark. I’m telling you that honestly.”</p><p>Johnny’s head whips up, a small frown on his face.</p><p>“I know you’d never lie to me,” Johnny says. “I—I know whatever you say is said in honesty. I’m sorry that you felt you had to swear that.”</p><p>Ten tugs on his ear again, the hoop earring jiggling a bit from the movement.</p><p>“S’okay, baby,” Ten says. “I like reassuring you. But I need you to do something—not for me but for yourself. How long are you gonna keep this up? What’s keeping you from telling him straight up?”</p><p>“Next to you, Mark’s the one I’m closest to,” Johnny says. “Ten, I don’t know how it was exactly for you when we broke up but when I thought I was gonna lose you completely, I felt like I was gonna die. It’s fucking terrifying falling in love with your best friend. It’s even scarier to break up with them. What if this blows up in my face? What if I tell him and he gets all weird and avoidant like you know he gets when something’s on his mind? What if—“</p><p>“You’re not gonna get anywhere if you’re going to stay hidden in rooms with your ex thinking about the worst possible scenarios, and you know it,” Ten says. “The only way out is through, or something. That’s an idiom, right?”</p><p>Johnny laughs, and it sounds like relief.</p><p>“Come on, baby,” Ten says gently, flicking Johnny’s hair around with his fingers. “You always told me to be brave. I’m telling you to be brave now. You’re never gonna know how he feels unless you ask.”</p><p>Johnny reaches up, takes Ten’s hand, and presses a kiss to his palm.</p><p>“How’d I get so lucky with you, huh?” Johnny asks, smiling. God, what a handsome face, Ten thinks fondly.</p><p>“We’re soulmates,” Ten says simply. “That’s the long and short of it, really.”</p><p>Johnny laughs, puts his arm around Ten’s shoulders, drawing him close to kiss Ten’s temple.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 10:27 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;hey baby u awake?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;I gotta tell u something</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 10:29 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Hey!! Whats up??</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Oh my god what is it why does this sound so serious??</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Hyung!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 10:31 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Wait omg SORRY please relax it’s not scary!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Im just texting to tell u that the operation is a go</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;But</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 10:31 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;But what</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;???</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 10:32 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Its time for me to dumbledore outta here, harry</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 10:33 pm]</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;?????????????</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;WHAT DEOS THAT MEAN</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;DOes*</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Ten??</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 10:33 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;It means i taught u how to fish so u gotta go make your meal now</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[Mark: 10:35 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Dude I honestly did not think u were this bad at metaphors. Like for real</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;Im freaking out here what are yyou talking about?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;About*</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;You*</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[me: 10:37 pm] </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;it means go get your man, markie 😍😍</em>
</p><p>
  <em>&gt;I believe in u!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ten really, really hopes that Mark gets it.</p><p>Mark and Johnny need to figure out how to start their relationship without Ten in the way now. Meddling might be fun in the movies, but it’s not quite the same thing in real life, and especially not when the web of their lives is so fully intertwined in unconventional ways. He tells Mark to remember what he’d said earlier in the practice room and hopes with a fervor he hasn’t felt in a long time that Johnny took their last conversation to heart.</p><p>There’s a knock on his door, and Sicheng’s head pops in. “Hey, you haven’t eaten,” he says.</p><p>“Not really hungry,” Ten says, but Sicheng comes in regardless with a bottle of juice, clearly plucked straight from their refrigerator.</p><p>“What’s going on? Are you feeling sick?” Sicheng says, sitting on the edge of his bed, Leon hopping onto his lap immediately. Ten snuggles close to him.</p><p>“No, just had a long, long day,” Ten says, the side of his head resting on Sicheng’s shoulder.</p><p>“Drink this at least, get some sugar in you,” Sicheng says, unscrewing the cap for him. Ten takes it and chugs a couple of mouthfuls of it.</p><p>“Doesn’t eat fruit, drinks artificial fruit juice, go figure,” Sicheng says. Ten likes to think that the fondness he detects is sincere. “What happened? What’s got you bothered?”</p><p>Ten yawns, unable to stop himself.</p><p>“Not so much <em>bothered </em>as I am... contemplative,” Ten says.</p><p>“Oh?” Sicheng replies. He moves to get on the bed properly, stretching his long legs out over Ten’s comforter, Leon still comfortably on his lap. “Lucky for you, I’m in a listening mood.”</p><p>Ten can’t exactly talk about Johnny and Mark, not fully, since it is not his secret to tell. But he can talk about everything else—Ten’s thoughts on relationships and love, about how all of that is supposed to work for them when they’re constantly caught between a rock and a hard place.</p><p>Ten talks and Sicheng listens until they’re both dozing off, Sicheng’s arms around him.</p><p> </p><p>🐱🐱🐯</p><p> </p><p>It’s quiet for a couple of days, which Ten tries not to be too anxious about since he’s doing his best not to <em>hover </em>and be all mother-henny about all of this. Johnny’s a big (big) boy, and so is Mark, and they’re adults enough to handle this on their own.</p><p>So when the weekend rolls around, and Mark texts him on Sunday morning asking if he’s free to meet up, Ten tries to play it cool, replying calmly, not asking about Johnny, agreeing to a time and place and jumping into the shower to get ready for it.</p><p>He honestly can’t tell if this’ll be great news or a great letdown, but Mark had seemed casual enough for it to be a good sign that things at least had not turned into a catastrophe while Ten wasn’t getting any updates.</p><p>When he walks out into the living room, Hendery’s on the couch with Bella, and Xiaojun and Lucas are in a push-up competition on a blessed Sunday morning. He’s honestly glad Mark asked him out. Sometimes the testosterone levels in his dorm gets too much even for Ten.</p><p>It doesn’t take too long for Ten to find his way to the little donut place Mark had asked to meet him at, and he finds Mark there, beanie pulled low and mask covering 3/4 of his tiny face. There’s already a box of a dozen in front of him, like an offering.</p><p>Ten smiles to himself, hidden by his own black mask and bucket hat.</p><p>“Hello, you,” Ten says, sliding into the seat across Mark.</p><p>“Hi hyung,” Mark says. His eyes glisten. Mark’s smiling bright behind that mask, he’s sure.</p><p>“So what’s up? How are you?” Ten asks. A loaded question.</p><p>“I’m—I’m great,” Mark says. “Uh. Johnny and I—we—“</p><p>“Oh my God,” Ten says, the realization dawning on him. “Oh my God, you did it.”</p><p>“No!” Mark yelps. “I mean—I mean if by ‘it’ you mean I got my man, yeah, but like, not it... it. Not... like, fully.”</p><p>Ten sputters into a laugh. “Why yes, I did in fact mean the former, but thank you for filling me in on the latter,” Ten says, giddy on Mark’s behalf.</p><p>“You’re not—like you sure this isn’t weird for you to hear?” Mark says. “I swear one day I’ll stop asking this but like, today is clearly not that day.”</p><p>How <em>does </em>Ten feel?</p><p>There’s a tiny, tiny echo inside of his heart that mourns the loss of Johnny, that has always mourned the loss of him, even if it’s been years since they broke up. Ten doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, not anymore.</p><p>Time heals many wounds, gives the body and the mind chances to build scar tissue over things that used to hurt, the nerve endings there never quite the same after the forced repair. But he and Johnny have healed well. Have healed together. Have grown on their own.</p><p>He’s grateful for the beautiful time he and Johnny had had, grateful for the friendship they still do have, grateful that Mark is here to love Johnny right, grateful that someone can handle all the love Johnny is capable of doling out.</p><p>How does Ten feel?</p><p>“I’m so happy for you both, Markie,” Ten says. His voice is sure. He doesn’t stumble once in his delivery. It’s always easier to speak clearly when you’re telling the truth, after all. “I’m so unbelievably happy for you both. This isn’t weird for me at all, so please relax.”</p><p>Ten thinks about the first time he’d ever told Johnny he loved him, tangled in Johnny’s sheets, sweat still slick on their foreheads, their chests still heaving from their hurried, desperate fuck. He thinks about how Johnny had breathlessly said it back. Reckless. Hapless.</p><p>Johnny had told him that how he felt about Mark was more <em>quiet</em> than that, and Ten can believe it, because they’ve all changed, grown up, grown into people who are more careful about where they decide to place their hearts, who to share them with.</p><p>And who better for Johnny to share his heart with than Mark Lee, whom Ten loves? Mark whose constant presence and friendship and all these years Ten has held dear. Mark is his baby, always will be his baby, and he’s willing to fight Johnny on this if he contests, but he knows Johnny won’t.</p><p>Mark’s shoulders ease, and he beams, “Okay, thanks hyung. But yeah, I just wanted to share that.”</p><p>“You’re welcome,” Ten says. “Now, tell me about your big gay love story with my ex. And don’t forget the details! I want details!”</p><p>Mark blushes his way through telling the story of how Johnny had asked him if he was free to talk, and how Johnny had come to his room, nervous but seemingly determined until Johnny started speaking, and all Mark could do left was listen.</p><p>Mark tells him how Johnny had confessed, and how Mark had managed to get his own confession out, and Ten is filled with warmth that he hadn’t expected, the genuine sort of bubbly happiness that tends to come from the start of new love.</p><p>“So, does he still kiss with too much tongue?” Ten asks, and Mark says, “Hyung! Oh my God!” while Ten laughs, “What! Listen if he’s a good kisser, he learned all that from me, okay!”</p><p>Mark does eventually say, “Yeah, he does, but I like it,” and really, that’s all that matters.</p><p>They spend the entire morning together, and when Johnny comes to meet them around lunchtime, after they’ve done their fair share of shopping and gossiping and groaning about their schedules, Ten stands to greet him in an embrace.</p><p>“I’m so happy for you,” Ten whispers. “I love you so much.”</p><p>He doesn’t miss the way Johnny’s arm tightens around him, a show of reassurance more than anything that they’re good.</p><p>“Thank you, Tennie,” Johnny whispers back. “You’re brilliant. I love you.”</p><p>It should feel strange, this triangle of past loves and present ones that Ten’s willingly lodged himself in, but it doesn’t. It takes some getting used to, the tiny changes that he sees in Johnny’s body language relative to Mark’s: how he hovers close, how his eyes linger on Mark’s lips, how he’ll touch Mark more than he used to.</p><p>But it’s not <em>bad</em>, it’s not <em>uncomfortable</em>, it’s not <em>weird</em>. It just is. And that’s okay. Not much changes. He loves them both just the same.</p><p>They find their way into a boutique and Ten finds an ornate fan that certainly is priced too high but seems worth it in the end.</p><p>Johnny watches Ten purchase it and raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him as the cashier bags it up. Ten ignores him and thinks instead of someone with strong, wiry arms, and a tendency to always worry about his eating habits, and if he’s okay.</p><p>“So,” Johnny whispers as the paper bag is handed to Ten. “Winwin, huh?”</p><p>Ten looks at him, feels the blush creep high on his cheeks, and says, “Mind your own business.”</p><p>Johnny laughs. “Yes, because you’re so good at doing that yourself, right?”</p><p>Ten, at least, has the decency to be a little ashamed, but Johnny tugs him close, arm over his shoulder, and says, “I think I’ll call this Operation Tenwin.”</p><p>Ten calls out to Mark, and points an accusatory finger at him. “You spilled my masterplan???”</p><p>Mark, bless his beautiful baby face, once again can’t tell when Johnny and Ten are fucking with him. “H-Hyung, I’m so sorry! I wanted to be honest with—“</p><p>Ten pulls on Mark’s wrist, laughing, while they walk out of the shop. “I’m <em>kidding</em>, baby,” Ten says, and Mark relaxes.</p><p>“Jeeeeezus I can never tell with you guys,” Mark says, hand over his heart. “Yo, I really thought you were mad for a sec!”</p><p>“Hey Markie, guess what, we get to return the favor,” Johnny says, slinging his other arm around his—boyfriend? Lover? Ten’s not quite sure yet.</p><p>“Oh, yeah?” Mark says, turning his face up to look at Johnny, then at eye level to Ten. “With <em>who</em>?”</p><p>“Oh my God, stop reporting live from my business, you bitch,” Ten says, kicking Johnny’s shin, except Johnny doesn’t even flinch.</p><p>“Operation Tenwin,” Johnny says in English.</p><p>Mark perks up, and Johnny digs his heels in with a, “Okay so the plan is you, and Winwin get locked in a room together.”</p><p>Ten tells him he’s been reading too much fanfiction which Johnny denies but Ten knows he’s lying about it, and Mark goes, “Yo, just tell him though?”</p><p>Both Ten and Johnny stop in their tracks at that to look at him, staring, until Johnny says, “Wow, I make out with you thrice and you get this bold, huh,” with the flattest voice ever and Mark goes, “Hey! It’s the truth! Like we could have made out so much sooner if I had done that!”</p><p>Ten laughs at the pair of them, full-bodied and joyous. They’re going to be alright; they’re all going to be alright. There’s a lot to fear, sure, but so much more to be excited about: the blossoming of this love between Mark and Johnny, more comebacks, more shows, more nights at home to grow whatever it is that exists with Sicheng.</p><p>He’s content to take in how things have changed and grown—how <em>he’s </em>changed and grown along with it all, and how love looks different depending on the person and the lens with which views it.</p><p>And right now, with his two best friends, he’s seeing the best possible view there is.</p><p> </p>
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